Chapter 7
Luckily for them, they didn't have to look far. There was a fountain in the central plaza with a giant town map encased on a stand next to it. The festival lights and street lamps made it more than bright to read the text and even without being able to make out the colour coding the word 'Library' was not hard to spot. Some hasty landmark-spotting later, they were standing in front of a stupidly intimidating set of double doors that were- as Chloe so perceptively put it- 'just another level of hell no to add to the night'. And the debate on who was going in first wasn't really producing a result.
"You don't think they could have put the lights on before everyone went... Well, before they went wherever they went?" Max griped as they stared into the gaping maw of empty black halls in front of them while Chloe put back the rock she'd used to smash the old-style lock.
"Probably not." Chloe shrugged. "I mean, I don't know where that might actually be, but there's no sparkly shit or disembodied voices floating around so The Rapture is definitely out of the question. Plus this place isn't that nice. Yeah, towns that are out in the sticks are pretty quaint, but this place is definitely not on the list of places I'd settle down-" It entered Max's head as she noticed the almost frantic undertone to Chloe's rambling that this was definitely an avoidance tactic and in this moment their fear of complete darkness was totally justified. But it was okay. The loss of her rewind power was a setback and nothing more. The power didn't define her. Scanning for other options, she spotted an emergency flashlight hanging on the wall and darted for it while Chloe carried on rambling. "I mean I guess we could Rock, Paper, Scissors for it- Ah!" She was suddenly blinded as the beam hit her full in the face while Max quickly moved it away from her eyes.
"Let's not. You always pick paper and then want to go best of three." With a grumble, Chloe followed her inside as the beam scanned each corridor and recess for any sign of danger. Eventually, they were able to locate a light switch and turn it on. The room was flooded in bright light and they could finally allow themselves to relax a bit.
"Well that was easier than I hoped." Chloe muttered. "I'm almost disappointed."
"Don't say that!" Max snapped, swatting the taller girl on the arm and earning a yelp in response. "You know whenever you say about something going right it then proceeds to always go wrong again!"
"Well, I know I really screwed the pooch this time around." Chloe sighed. "Anyway, what are we looking for in here? Specifically, I mean."
"Just any book on folklore or the festival." Max told her. "There's got to be something in there." Chloe nodded and the two of them split up. It took them a total of thirty minutes trawling through shelves of books in the Local History section to find anything that might be of use. Even using the contents and index pages to single out points of interest, it was amazing how dull the books were. Reading from them made their eyes and brains feel like they were made of treacle and they were left wondering if the reason each book had about three authors was because each time they were being written the first two had killed themselves out of boredom before they could finish it and left the third to finish the job. The town was one they hadn't really heard of before and it was little wonder why. No famous or remotely inspirational people had lived there and other than their festival they'd done literally nothing of interest. But suddenly, a shout distracted her from what she was doing.
"Hey, I think I got it!" Max turned her book over onto its pages to stop it from shutting and moved over to where Chloe was. She was pointing to a section in a book that did actually look promising. Taking it from her, Max began to read for herself.
'The Fall Festival is a special time for the town of Oakhaven as it is considered the one time that the people are willing to set all differences aside and promote free interaction. This is helped greatly by the superstition of wishing in the town's well. It is said that wishes made in the well are likely to come true for a lucky few, although there are many that believe every wish made will be granted. The credibility of wishes overall has been very low, but it's undeniable that everyone who's ever taken part in a Fall Festival has felt the magic of it.
But beware all those who would use their wish to sate their own greed. The legend has it that any who wish for their own greed will vanish, never to be seen again. This has been proven to be false as one person did manage to reappear. They proclaimed that the town had misinterpreted their wish and that they had been trapped in the town for what felt like years. During this time, they were put through hell to try and undo their wish. They revealed that the key to getting out was at the bottom of the well. To avoid dying at the hands of the shadows that plague the forsaken greedy wishers, one must descend into the abyss. You must give all you have to avoid it being taken from you, and only when you are on the cusp of nothingness will you be offered the chance to correct the mistake.'
Max and Chloe stared dumbly at the pages, trying to process what they were reading. The information given left a lot to be desired; clarity being something in great demand but short supply. But eventually, Chloe looked up at Max with determination blazing in her eyes in such a way that Max was instantly reminded why she married her in the first place.
"Fuck that. I'm not getting stuck in here for years. Looks like we're headed down the well." Max simply nodded and closed the book, gathering up the rest of them to look at putting them back. It didn't totally matter where. They were all from roughly the same place and with a bit of luck they'd have everything set to rights and be gone before the townsfolk realised anything was amiss. "Max?" She faintly registered Chloe's voice behind her, but was still inwardly seething at her and worried that saying literally anything might cause that to show. Chloe, unfortunately, didn't know that. "Look, Max, I never intended to steal your power. I just- I wanted something like what you had. I didn't want your exact power. Rewinding time? We both know I'm way too irresponsible for that. But you used your power to put things right and that hasn't always come naturally to me. I just figured if I had something like you had, it might make that easier. I love you. I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?"
"Chloe-" Max took a barely controlled breath and tried her hardest not to snap again. "You know that you mean the world to me. And I know that you'd never intentionally hurt me. But you never think these things through, do you? If we don't do this right? We'll be stuck in here for what will feel like years! And that's not including the fact that one of us has a rewind power! And if you felt you needed a power to stand on a level pegging with me, then I guess I've done a shit job of telling you how much I love already had the power to make everything right, Chloe. And you did it just by being there. Whenever you stood next to me, were in my general area or even popped into my head, I felt like everything was going to be alright. One mistake, no matter how catastrophic, will not cause you to lose my heart. Don't worry about that. But my trust is something you'll have to earn back. And right now, I feel like putting this mistake right would certainly be a step in the right direction." Without a backwards glance, Max shelved the last book and turned on her heel before leaving the room. She didn't dare look Chloe's way and she instantly felt the shift in the room because of it. She wanted Chloe to know exactly how badly she'd messed up. Judging by the chill she felt behind her as Chloe followed her, she'd done a pretty good job of driving her point home.